Attorney, Jiri Mestecky, gave a great talk to Design Matters on Intellectual Property law as it relates to file sharing and the downloading of music this week. Some people may say that this is a boring issue and that it would be impossible to give an interesting talk on this legal issue (or legal issues in general). Personally, I do not believe there are too many issues that can not be presented in a compelling, interesting manner. What was great about Jiri's talk is that he was (1) qualified to speak on the issue, (2) demonstrably interested in — even passionate about — his topic, and (3) he was clearly happy to be there. He was clearly "in the moment," in other words. Always good to listen to someone who is passionate about their subject.

Presentations fail for many reasons. One reason is that the presenter lacks a passion or deep interest in the subject (or at least gave that impression). You do not need to flap your arms wildly or turn in to something you are not. Be yourself, of course. But never be afraid to show your commitment to or passion about your subject. Your audience will pick up on this and it will help you tremendously. On the other hand, if you "phone it in," failure is virtually certain regardless of the content.